Foreigners
by Darth Gilthoron
Summary: The story of how Rick and Beni became friends. WARNING: I wrote this as a little boy.
1. Arriving at the Camp

**__**

Chapter 1 - Arriving at the Camp

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Maybe this is not so bad, Rick O'Connell thought. _Could be much worse. Only ten in that room. Wouldhave never dared to hope so. _He put his bag down on his bed, the one next to the wall, and looked around. He had been to worse places. Definitely. Maybe the French Foreign Legion was not so bad after all. Maybe better than it had looked to him in the last six months when he had been a recruit.

He sat down on the bed, right next to his bag. It was not very soft, but also not very hard. You could sleep in it, at least. That was, if his roommates let him sleep.

His roommates. That was a different problem. Rick could grow accustomed to hard beds, dirty floors, dusty cupboards, burnt food, only cold water in the bathroom or whatever, but he had a real problem with unwashed, smelling, disgusting people. What if there were nine such guys in this room with him? _Oh god, please not! At least not my neighbour!_ _Not like it was until now!_ Rick sighed. But then, it was all his fault. He could have been still in Paris with his companions if not for that incident with that girl. Why, why had he tried to impress her? Why on earth? If he had known what consequences his stupidness would have... He should have thought about it before. But then, how could he have known what would happen? Joining the Foreign Legion had been his only choice six months ago, and now there was no way back.

The door burst open, and Rick, suddenly torn from his thoughts, jumped and came to his feet rather quickly. In marched a man at about his age, but much stouter and more grim-looking. When he saw the newcomer, he stopped short and stared. "And who are you?" he bellowed in a rather bad French.

"Erm... I'm Richard O'Connell", Rick said, far from delighted about such rudeness. "I'm new. They sent me here, to become an officer maybe."

"And where do you come from?" the stranger wanted to know. He himself seemed to be Italian, at least his accent made Rick guess so.

"I'm American", he answered. "From Chicago."

The other man made a face. "American... I hate those Americans", he muttered and sat down on a bed near the door.

Right then, four others of Rick's new roommates came in. They didn't look much friendlier. Rick had to tell them the same as before, but at least they introduced themselves. They all were Spanish. One had his bed quite close to Rick's, but still his direct neighbour had not arrived.

Rick began to feel worried about this. Was he really to live with such figures? What had they done to join the Foreign Legion? Certainly something worse than he had. Something much worse.

Again the door opened, and again someone entered the room. But he looked different from the others. He was slender and bright-eyed, and he didn't have that ferocious look on his face. He also seemed to be a bit younger, merely a boy. He sauntered straight up to the bed next to Rick's. Only then he noticed his new neighbour and had a look at him with a slight grin. "Hey", he said, and it didn't sound unfriendly.

"Hey", Rick returned while mustering his neighbour in turn. He really looked very young and was quite pale, and he had the thinnest of all moustaches Rick had ever seen, like a line following the kid's upper lip.

"I'm Beni Gabor", he finally said. "From Budapest. And who are you?"

"Richard O'Connell from Chicago."

The kid grinned and held out his hand; Rick took it. "Finally", the kid said, but this time in English. "Someone whose mothertongue I understand. Believe me, it makes you crazy to listen to these Spanish and Italian chattering and only understand half of it."

Rick smiled. His neighbour had a somewhat nasty accent when he spoke English, but this was much better than to speak French (where Rick feared he had a nasty accent). "I agree with you completely", he replied.

"And they don't understand us really", the young Hungarian went on. "Certainly an advantage."

Rick turned carefully and looked at the others in the room. One of the Spanish was whispering with the Italian, looking over to them. Maybe that rude guy didn't like anyone speaking some language he could not understand.

"Exactly what I mean", said the kid from behind him. "I'm completely new, you know, and they've used to bother me the last few days since I arrived here."

Rick looked at him and frowned slightly. Did that mean _Help me, they're after me, why don't you be my buddy?_ or something like that? Would they be after him himself as well? He considered this problem. Well, better to have a companion than to face them all alone. "Okay", he said aloud, "you'd like to be my buddy?"

The kid nodded quickly, smiling with delight. "Thank you, Mr. - what was your name again? O'Connor?"

"O'Connell", Rick corrected. "Richard O'Connell. But you can call me Rick if you want."

Again the kid nodded eagerly, his bright blue eyes glittering. "Of course I want. Call me Beni."

Rick took off his boots and stretched himself out on his bed. "So for how long have you been here, Beni?" he asked his new companion.

"Five days, Rick. They sent me here directly. Too less soldiers, so they said." He shrugged, seeming a bit helpless. "But I'm only a recruit. They keep sending me around, do this, do that... I don't like it. You know when someone stops being a recruit perhaps?"

Rick had to smile. "After you finished your training as a recruit. Six months, that is - or at least was it for me. I'll be promoted now maybe. Just you wait, that's not very long. You'll soon be colonel", he added when he saw Beni's rather disappointed expression.

Beni grinned. "I wish I was. I'd command those guys over there to clean the toilets."

Rick grinned back. "When they make me an officer I'll do so", he promised.

"You'll be a great officer certainly", Beni giggled.

So Rick became friends with Beni the very first day at the new camp already. He quickly found out that Beni was a coward and not very reliable. Nonetheless he didn't regret presenting the kid with his trust. There were some things Beni was very good at, for example sneaking some extra food from the kitchen. And besides, he was the only one of all the soldiers Rick would have trusted. It was good to have someone around.


	2. In the Evening

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Chapter 2 - **In the Evening**

"I do like this sight", Rick said dreamily, gazing intently up at the clear nightly sky. "It's beautiful. And it makes you think somehow. Imagine all those stars up there having planets, and amongst them planets like ours, and on them people like we are looking up to the sky, imagining people like they are somewhere out there, maybe imagining us, but knowing they will never know us, just as we will never know them. That's a bit sad, isn't it?"

"You're not getting sentimental, Rick, I hope?" Beni commented, fiddling with a loose piece of wood from the windowsill.

Rick sighed. It was useless to talk about philosophy with Beni. The kid never said what he was thinking, though it was clear he was thinking about the same. "Do you miss Budapest?" Rick asked instead.

There was a little pause. Beni seemed to consider this. "I don't know", he finally answered. "Maybe I miss it sometimes. I really don't know. I don't know if I would return, I mean, when they let me."

"Does that mean you have no parents? Or any other relatives?" Rick wanted to know.

"Of course I have." In the dim light the shadows shifted and grew deeper on Beni's face as he frowned. "But they wouldn't take me back, I suppose."

"They wouldn't?" Rick was a bit surprised. What kind of parents were these, kicking out their son and wanting him never to return? Or did Beni only seem so innocent? Had he committed some kind of crime maybe? Or was he just an unwanted boy without a future and had therefore joined the Foreign Legion? Rick had never thought about this.

"They wouldn't", Beni said firmly. "Never. Not after what I've done. I mean, it was not I alone. But they blamed me for it all and kicked me out."

When he fell silent Rick waited for a while, but when it became clear his friend wouldn't go on he asked: "So what terrible thing did they accuse you of?"

There came a little giggle from his side. "They found me in the same bed as my sister. Completely naked. It was easy to guess what had happened for them."

Oh. "So you've been in love with your own sister?"

Beni giggled again. "Not really in love, you know. She actually asked me to do it. I was stupid enough to say I would. So I visited her at night, and, well, we just did it. I should have known she wouldn't help me in such a situation. She had never cared much about me before, you know. I was just the silly little brother." He shrugged. "At least it was a wonderful night. The first and only time in my life."

Comfortingly, Rick put a hand on his shoulder. "They'll certainly take you back someday, Beni. That's not a real crime. Do you really think they'd kick out their only son?"

"Oh, come on, Rick, you don't know my father."

"Maybe you just think so. Maybe he'll take you back nonetheless." Rick just couldn't believe it.

Beni produced a sound not far different from a dog's growl. "You don't know him, Rick. You don't know him. He kicked me out the same day. I had planned to go to university, but I had to forget it. No place to live and no money. And he didn't take me back, he was so angry at me."

Now Rick understood where Beni's talent to provide himself with extra food came from: It had been trained on the markets and in the bars of Budapest. "So you joined the Foreign Legion because it was so hard to survive on the street?"

Beni grinned and shook his head. "Nah. I'm tougher than you think. The reason for joining... It's a different story."

"Oh, little Gabor and his dull friend from America", a voice suddenly came from behind them. "And what are you talking about? Do you miss your mommy or what?" It was the stout Italian Rick had met first when he had come to the new room, and he was smirking. "You, American, what makes you protect that little slimy piglet? Does he crawl into your bed at night when we others are sleeping to pay you his reward?"

"I think you've been drinking again", Rick answered as calm as he could, "or else you wouldn't speak like that. I'd advise you to go back to our room if you don't want any officers seeing you in this state."

But his roommate didn't heed his words. "You'd lend me the boy perhaps?" he jeered on. "Or do you need him to fall asleep? Are you a teddy bear, Gabor? Is this what you are?"

"You leave the boy", Rick growled. He noticed that his friend had stepped away from the rude Italian and was trying to hide behind his back.

"So you claim him to be yours after all!" The Italian laughed an ugly laugh. "You come here, Gabor, you little rosy monkey! You go and sweep the floors for me!"

"I won't!" Beni squeaked from behind Rick's back. He always got a rather high-pitched voice when he was angry or excited.

"You'll do it alright!" The drunkard stepped forward with an amazing velocity, grabbed the fidgeting Hungarian by the shoulders and hit him in the face, but the next moment he gave a cry of pain and wrath and sprang back. "He bit me! That little bastard bit me! Just you wait, you little dirty..."

"What's going on here?" A stern voice made them all jump. It was an officer. A rather angry-looking officer. "You, Guerrini, you keep your hands off your future corporal!"

Rick and the Italian both looked at Beni, as surprised as the kid himself. "But Sir!" he stammered. "I'm only a recruit..."

"Are you O'Connell, yes or no?" the officer asked impatienly.

"I'm O'Connell", Rick quickly explained. "He's my friend. His name is Gabor."

"Alright, O'Connell. You'll be promoted to corporal tomorrow. First thing in the morning."

They all were silent, and Rick had to smile with pride. "Big deal, Rick", Beni finally said.


	3. Off to Egypt

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Chapter 3 - Off to Egypt

"Now we'll go to Egypt in no time", Beni meant a few days later after they had finished their daily training and were now washing off the sweat in the washing room. "We'll go and see the pyramids, the ruins of the temples, the tombs of..."

"I fear we won't", Rick returned, putting his shirt neatly over a little stool, next to his friend's. "I wouldn't be so enthusiastic. No tombs and no pharaohs, Beni. Maybe the pyramids from the outside. But I wouldn't hope for more."

Beni made a face. "You're boring", he complained.

Rick sighed. "That's not my fault, Beni. Don't be silly. Of course I would let you go if I were to command that legion. I would come along with you. But I'm not, you see. So be sensible."

"I hate being sensible!" Beni growled and splashed Rick with cold water. "You're just like my father!"

Rick threw a dripping sponge at him instead of an answer. Soon they were engaged in a wild battle. When they finally stopped, their hair and trousers were all wet, and their only dry things were their shirts on the stools. "Yuk", Beni coughed, spitting out shimmering bubbles. "You'll never make me eat soap again!" 

Rick would have grinned if not for the piece of a towel being stuck in his mouth. It tasted disgusting, certainly not better than the soap. "It's all your fault", he finally said after having removed the rag. "You began it."

"You began it!"

The next moment they were rumbling again.

After dinner they went to bed quite early. It had been a long day, and they would have to get up again early in the morning. Besides, they would travel to Egypt soon, and neither of them knew if they would get much sleep on this journey.

Beni entered the land of dreams soon, but Rick lay awake for a long time, listening to the kid's soft breathing and thinking of Egypt. Finally he fell asleep.


End file.
